Nailed It! – Andrew Strano: Songs Inspired by the Weird and Wonderful Aspects of Love – Adelaide Cabaret Festival 2016 Review

Artspace Gallery, Adelaide Festival Centre, Sat 11 Jun Andrew Strano and Loclan Mackenzie-Spencer have written a bunch of award winning songs inspired by the weird and wonderful aspects of falling in or out of love… and then there’s one about Hogwart’s. The songs are funny and clever, each with their own theme about love and with comedic surprises ranging from discussions about the genitals of plants to outrageous sibling attraction, a warning not to fly with Tiger Air and the strangely addictive appeal of babies… all in good humour. Andrew is a likeable, boyish personality and a fine singer with a clear, sweet musical theatre voice and is accompanied by the marvellous Robyn Womersley playing excellent piano. Their banter was fun and the show needed more of it to add interest and liveliness to the song-after-song format, which had little musical variety. Most of the songs were delivered by Andrew standing stick-still behind the mic stand with the microphone obscuring half his face, giving us very little to look at while listening. When he did move and interact with Robyn or the audience, it was a relief from the mesmerising stillness. Some of Andrew’s patter was fun and interesting but similarly restrained and by about half-way through, the songs started to sound a bit formulaic and same-y. The Hogwart’s song on the end was bewilderingly boyish and out of the theme but still sounded like all the others. All that aside, it was a pleasant show and people who love musical theatre songs or, as my companion said, have a 24-year-old son, would relate to a lot of it. The lyrics are witty and the music lovely but the show needs more energy and variety so it doesn’t feel like a demo for an album. Nikki Fort Image courtesy of Skhushboo Sahrawat Photography Social Media: Facebook: Adelaide Cabaret Festival Twitter: @AdelaideCabaret  #AdCabFest Instagram: @AdelaideCabaret Facebook: The Clothesline – Digital Arts Magazine Twitter: @Clothesline_Mag